Universal insulator



A BARNSTEINER ETAL UNIVERSAL INsULAToR Flled Nov 29, 1959 July 7,l 1942.

INVENTQRS J0 ///br/J Barnszewer TTORNEY Patented July 7, 1942 UNTEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE UNIVERSAL INSUIATOR Application November `29, 1939,Serial No. 306,686

3 Claims.

Our invention relates to insulators and more particularly to universalinsulators for use with range structures, or the like.

Ceramic insulators slidably mounted upon suitable supporting fingers,rigidly attached to the rear wall of a range, have heretofore been usedfor supporting wires for use with electric ranges. These ceramicinsulators have been of a wellknown type, with elongated slots locatedwithin only two opposite surfaces to afford means of engaging thesupporting structures. However, the use of such individual insulatorsmounted in pairs (as sometimes required) on a supporting structuregreatly increases the manufacturing Cost of the present day range,inasmuch as the use of two or more such insulators increases the timerequired to assemble such range as well as making such structure morediicult to assemble.

In contrast with separate insulators which must be individually mountedupon suitable supporting structures, we propose to use a singleinsulator capable of supporting two or more electrical wires andinherently capable of being mounted in either of two operatingpositions. This novel insulator enables a workman to more readilyassemble the range structure and at the same time insures a positive,rugged structure.

It is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide a universalinsulating member which may be slidably positioned upon a supportingstructure in either of two operating positions.

A further object of our invention is to provide an inexpensive, rugged,compact block-shaped insulator having elongated slots formed within thesides and also the ends thereof, substantially parallel to the top andbottom surfaces for cooperating with a suitable supporting structure torigidly attach such insulator to a range structure, or the like, ineither of two significant positions.

Other objects of our invention will either be pointed out specificallyin the course of the following description of a device embodying ourinvention, or will be apparent from such description.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figures l and 2 are partial, sectional and rear views, respectively, ofa range illustrating insulating members embodying our inventionassociated therewith;

Figures 3, 4, and 5 are top, front, and side views, respectively, of theinsulating member embodying our invention upon a supporting structureillustrating one of its operative positions;

Figures 6, 7, and 8 are top, front, and side views, respectively, of theinsulating device embodying our invention mounted within a secondsupporting structure illustrating another operating position thereof;and

Figure 9 is a perspective View of the insulatin member embodying ourinvention.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, in which like referencecharacters indicate like parts in the several iigu-res, we show auniversal insulator Il! removably associated with supports I2 and I4which may be rigidly attached to the rear cover plate I6 and backsplasher I8 of, say, a range structure 20 to support necessary electricwires 22 operatively associated with, say, a switch 24.

The insulating member I0 is a six sided member formed as a rectangularparallel piped with elongated cylindrical apertures 26 extendingtherethrough. The apertures 2B preferably eX- tend transversely throughthe member from the top to the bottomsurfaces thereof. Elongated slots28 are formed within the sides and ends of the member I0 substantiallyparallel` to the top and bottom surfaces thereof. The slots 28 arelpreferably located along the line substantially midway between such topand bottom surfaces and each slot is thus` a continuation of the slotslocated at each end thereof so as to` form substantially a continuousslot around the insulator. The slots 28 are formed. within the structureor member I0, a distance suitable to afford satisfactory engagement withthe supporting structures I2 and I4.

Vertically extending notches 3i! may, if desired, be lformed with in thefour corners of the structure IO so as to extend from the top to thebottom surfaces thereof. These notches 30 are located or formed withinthe structure I0 to afford cooperation with the supporting structures I2and I4 soas, to enable such structures to more rigidly attach theinsulating member thereto, as hereinafter described.

The supporting structure I2 is, in this instance, formed from a singlesheet of metal having upwardly extending ngers 32 and a lower supportingportion 34 substantially normal thereto. The fingers 32 are spaced apartsuch a distance as to permit the` insulator I0 to be slid downwardlytherebetween with such fingers being located within the elongated slots28. The fingers 32 are slightly longer than the insulator I0 to enablethe upper ends thereof to be bent backwardly and forwardly upon theinsulator. Such bending of the upper portions of the fingers 32cooperates with the upper edge of the insulator I preventing suchinsulator from being removed from the supporting structure I2 (seeFigures l and 2.) The bent upper portions of ngers 32 are adapted to fltwithin the corner notches 3E) and to be substantially flush with the topsurface of the insulators.

The supporting structure I4 comprises a plurality of fingers 36 and alower supporting portion 38 formed substantially normal to such fingers.Structure I4 is similar to the supporting structure i2. However, thedistance between the ngers 3G is greater than the distance between thefingers 32 of structure I2. The distance between such fingers 36 issubstantiallyT equal to the length of the insulator I0 less twice thedepth of the elongated slots 28 formed within the ends thereof. Thestructure I4 is thus adapted to receive and support the insulator Ii) ina horizontal position or in a position with the longitudinal axis oi'the insulator I0 substantially parallel to the support portion 38 of thesupporting structure It. The upper ends of ngers 32 extend above theinsulator i0 and may likewise be bent over upon the insulator I0 toprevent the removal of such insulator Il) therefrom, as hereinabovedescribed.

When utilizing the supporting structures I2 and I4 with a rangestructure, the supporting portions 3d and Se, respectively, thereof arerigidly attached to the rear portion of the range structure. rlhefingers 32 and 3E, respectively, of the structures l2 and I4 extendbackwardly substantially normal to the rear surface of the rangestructure. This enables the insulating members or structures Iii to bemounted substantially normal to the rear surface of the range structure.The apertures 26 extending through the insulators l@ are thus positionedsubstantially parallel to the rear surface of the range. The necessarywires 22 of the range may then be positioned within the apertures 26 andthus be mounted or located substantially parallel to the rear surface ofthe range structure.

When wiring the range structure utilizing the insulators embodying ourinvention after the support brackets I2 and I4 have been rigidlyattached thereto, such insulators are positioned within the supportingbrackets I2 and I4. The insulators iii, being universal in operation,may be attached to either type of supporting bracket I2 or I4. In otherwords, the operator merely picks up any insulator a'nd inserts it withinthe supporting fingers 32 or 36.. The exact location of the insulator isthus predetermined by the type of bracket previously attached to therange structure at a predetermined position. In other words, thelsupporting members I2 and I4 retain the insulator upon the rangestructure in any predetermined position.

It is, therefore, obvious that an operator may thus attach insulators tothe surface of the range structure or the like without paying anyparticular attention to the general location or arrangement desired,inasmuch as the supporting brackets to receive such insulators have beenpredeterminedly attached to such structure. The electric wires used onthe range struc-` ture and operatively associated with the heatingelements and switch 24 are thus inserted through the apertures 26without any special regard to the relative position -of such insulators.

Various modications may be made in the Cil device embodying ourinvention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, and wedesire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be placed thereon asare imposed by the prior art and the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. A universal insulator comprising a rectangular parallelepiped blockof insulating material having a plurality of apertures extending throughthe block from top to bottom thereof for supporting conductors, saidblock having a pair of spaced apart longitudinally extending shouldersformed .only on the opposite sides and ends thereof, said shouldersextending a sufficient distance along the block to thereby dene pairs ofparallel grooves on the ends and sides of said block whereby the blockmay be supported in one position between a pair of spaced supportingmembers engaged within one pair of grooves, or in another positionbetween another pair of spaced supporting members engaged within theother pair of grooves, the adjacent ends of said shoulders dening aspace to receive the ends of said supporting members when the ends arebent over into locking position.

2. The combination with U-shaped supporting members having differentspacing between the arms of the members, of a universal insulator blockhaving the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, said block havingmeans for supporting conductors, and having a pair of spaced apartlongitudinally extending shoulders formed on opposite sides and endsthereof, said shoulders extending a sufficient distance along the blockto thereby dene pairs of parallel grooves on the ends and sides of saidblock, said grooves being adapted to slidably engage selectively thespaced arms of either of said supporting members whereby the block maybe supported on one of said members with the cord supporting means inone position and on another of said members with the cord supportingmeans in another position, said shoulders also defining notches at theintersecting edges of the sides and ends of the block into whi-ch theends of said supporting arms may be bent to thereby retain saidinsulator in position on the supporting member.

3. The combination with U-shaped supporting members having diierentspacing between the arms of the members, of a universal insulator blockhaving the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped, said block havingapertures extending therethrough from top to bottom for supportingconductors, and having a pair of spaced-apart longitudinally extendingshoulders formed only on opposite sides and ends thereof, said shouldersextending a suflicient distance along the block to thereby dene pairs ofparallel grooves on the ends and sides of said block, said grooves beingadapted to slidably engage selectively the spaced arms of either of saidsupporting members whereby the block may be supported on one of saidmembers with the apertures in one position and on another of saidmembers with the apertures in another position, said shoulders alsodefining notches at the intersecting edges of the sides and ends of theblock, into which the ends of said supporting arms may be bent tothereby retain said insulator in position on the supporting member.

ALFONS BARNSTEINER. EDWIN LOCKWOOD.

